Search - Niccolo Paganini, Charles Dutoit, London Philharmonic Orchestra :: Accardo Plays Paganini: Complete Recordings

Magnificent for collectors

Christian Jimenez | San Jose, San Jose Costa Rica | 02/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a really masterpiece for collector. For the people that love the "virtuoso-violin", this is yours. If you are a fanatic of Paganini's music like me, this is your collection, because you will find the Maestosa sonata sentimentale, the Duo Merveille, "God save the King", in a perfect interpretation, only by Accardo, that are very difficult to find. The 6 Concertos, are amazing, if it is your first time hearing Paganini, you will find absolutely incredible, and remember, is only one violin performing those sounds. Double-Stops, Harmonics, Double-Harmonics, and the most colorful bowing performance. Paganini is very romantic and sentimental, the six, second movements are a jewel in your collection. I recomend you that adquire this for your personal collection, the case is beautiful, and the sound is powerful, like the recorders of the Deutsche Grammophon, Accardo plays Paganini transmiting to the listener the feeling of his performance. The 24 Caprices are interesting, and Accardo plays very clear, if you are playing the caprices, this is a good guide, please try to listen the sound of Accardo, you could find many tips in his performance. If you like the music in general, these concertos will give you a different vision and nature of the power of a violin with the London Philarmonic Orchesta. PROs - Excelent Violinist (Accardo), Excelent Presentation (CDs, book and case),Excelent Recorder, each CD has a number, the people take your time making this CD - Each Piece has a good explanation CONs - No are biography of Salvadore Accardo."

What a man! What a Violin! What an Artist!

B. A Riesgraf | St. Cloud, Minnesota United States | 04/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Salvatore Accardo has played magnificently! I am not a classical music critic; I don't know what it really means to be a great violinist, but I certainly enjoy listening to every song in this 6 cd set. I am fifteen years old, but Paganini's music has a great impact on me. My mother bought me this album for Christmas, and I couldn't have received a more wonderful collection of music. I tend to have a preference for the first recording I ever hear of certain songs, and I have heard several of these songs performed by different artists. Let me tell you, these recordings are fantastic. My favorites are the 21st Caprice, the second movement of the 6th concerto, and the entire 4th concerto. Accardo's tone is rich and robust, and the orchestra behind him compliments him perfectly.
Utterly Satisfied,
BobbyP.S. The title for my review was what Franz Liszt (classical pianist and composer) exclaimed when he heard Paganini perform.:)"

Accardo Is As Great As The Greats! A True Virtuoso of Pagan

Octavius | United States | 10/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nicolo Paganini is primarily a virtuoso composer who did not compose anything other than for the violin in the early 19th century. He was a true prodigy of the instrument whose ferocious and innovative style of playing frightened many of the credulent folk into thinking he was the devil. With the increasing popularity of the waltz, he along with other romantics such as Beethoven completely revolutionized the concept of violin concertos that were still then mostly in the antiquated Roccoco menuet formulas of Mozart and Haydn. The caprices are more technical excercises for this new revolutionary style and are the cornerstones of all Romantic traditions of violin including the Romantic German and, to a much lesser extent, the Polish/Klezmer tradition of Joseph Joachim.



Salvatore Accardo is an accomplished violinist who performed many times with the most reputable groups such as I Musici di Roma and the English Chamber Orchestra. He was a long-time mentor of Anne-Sofie Mutter who performed with Karajan. Despite working often with various Baroque styles, Salvatore Accardo is primarily a specialist at Paganini and the Italian Romantic period and this is the main reason this recording is one of the best you can obtain for Paganini. Charles Dutoit is also an accomplished orchestral conductor and generally works very well with Rossini whose light romantic style in his operatic overtures have overlaps with the style in Paganini's contemporary symphonic arrangements for his violin concerti. Accardo and Dutoit were therefore a perfect match in performing Paganini and this ablum is a great example along with their other collaborations for the composer available on single CD. The music is light and joyful in its interpretation while many others tend to be heavy and sluggish. Accardo's performance is filled with vitality as he has complete mastery over the instrument and feels at ease in his performance without ever faltering. His performance brings out the fluidity and full range of Paganini's style very well. Salvatore Accardo's performance of the caprices is also legendary in which he performs all of the most difficult pieces briliantly without effort: they are truly divine in every respect!



Although it's extremely difficult to make a judgment call between these three undisputed virtuosos of the violin and Paganini, Perlman and Heifetz would not be my first choices because they are not really masters of the Italian Romantic style as that of the German/Polish/Klezmer traditions. However technical the differences might be, they do make a significant difference and so I prefer Accardo for Paganini as he is simply the foremost expert with this composer and the Italian Romantic style which Heifetz and Perlman are not. This album is a great buy where you can get all of Paganini's passionate violin concerti and caprices at a good price. There are really few if any performances equal to this one on the market other than those of Perlman and Heifetz. Such other performances, even by child prodigies, are simply beneath them in every respect to the point that they actually sound amateurish in comparison. No matter which of the three you choose, you can't really go wrong with any of them but I would really look no further than them as everything else is far beneath their legendary talents. Enjoy!



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